Modi Transforms from Dream Merchant to Grand Illusion Innovator 

 

(PMEGP Start-up Unit- Edited Image Courtesy: KVIC)

 

Public sector Banks-aided start-ups are mushrooming across the country.

From Ms Anung Phom’s (8th class drop-out tribal) Dhaba in Nagaland to Ms Hema Sudha Sakhre’s (farm worker-turned entrepreneur) Bedana/rasin unit in Maharashtra and From Ghulam Mohi-Ud-din Bhat’s (lower middle-class) carpet weaving unit in Jammu & Kashmir to P. M. Murugesan’ s (school drop-out OBC) banana fibre-based products unit in Tamilnadu, all share a common bond. And it is the Prime Minister’s vision for start-ups and jobs 

Please don’t mistake these tiny units as an overnight outcome of Narendra Modi’s clarion call from the ramparts of Red Fort. Many such enterprises have come up under Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) that was launched by UPA following Dr. Manmohan Singh speech on 15th August 2008!

And Modi turned a blind eye to this UPA legacy that would elate any rationalist Indian. 

In addition to PMEGP units, several lakh micro enterprises, self-help groups (SHGs) and cooperatives have bloomed under different schemes. A notable scheme is National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) for which India signed $ 1bn, 5-yr soft loan agreement with International Development Association (IDA) in 2011. 

These and other facts on issues ranging from corruption to labour code have been marshaled in this column to take the fizz out of grand illusion created by Mr. Modi’s Independence Day speech. 

Barring a couple of good announcements, PM’s claims were nothing but repackaging of UPA’s schemes and achievements. He passed them off as them as his initiatives to realize Indian dreams.

More disturbing feature of the Speech was that it distorted facts and misled the public. One does not know whether to blame PM or his coterie of advisers for this let-down on a solemn occasion.  

(Annaji Attacking Land Ordnance - Edited Image Courtesy: Congress Party)

 

Political posturing by different parties as saviours of farmers’ land is hurting growth and jobs prospects.

Posturing has overshadowed the hurdles erected by government entities to delay and discourage developmental projects. The entities do so by flaunting their regulatory turf even as they merrily cede land to Slum Lords and squatters.

The obstructing entities include Ministry of Environment and Forest (MOEF), Department of Space, Department of Culture, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, defence forces and the authorities that maintain large swaths of government prime land in urban areas.

If we take the collective impact of all such constraints, then we can virtually write off forever the prospects for optimum harnessing of natural resources. Similar would be the case with ‘Make in India’ Initiative (M3I), which has been launched to reverse the alarming decline in share of manufacturing in the gross domestic product (GDP) during the last two decades.

      Sushma breached core governance rules in helping Lalit Modi

 

 

(Edited Image Courtesy: Parliament)

 

Parliament impasse over Lalitgate should be resolved by looking at three key issues. These are: 1) abuse of discretionary powers; 2)  violation of core governance rules named Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961 and prima facie breach of specific laws.  

The Treasury and the Opposition have to act responsibly on these three dubious actions of disgraced External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj.  

The initiative to break the stalemate must come from the Government, which is keeping all documents close to its chest. It has even stonewalled RTI queries on Lalitgate. 

NDA Government knows that it would be left defenceless and faceless if it makes public all the documents. To judge whether Mrs Sushma’s role in Laligate is “humanitarian” or unethical, MPs must have access to all correspondence between Indian and British Governments during UPA & NDA regimes over the urgency to deport alleged economic offender Lalit Modi. 

BJP’s stone-walling & mudslinging strategy is a de facto admission of the individual and collective guilt of Modi Government in aiding an accused to stay away from the long arm of the Law. The Government is leveraging Lokpal’s non-existence and implied threat to use Official Secrets Act to shield Mrs. Sushma. And it is also abusing official access to incriminating documents against Congress leaders to throw mud back at Congress to force it to back off.

Modi Government is thus acting as defendant, prosecutor and Judge all rolled into one!